FG drags two brothers to Court over 86 luxury cars, 4 choice houses linked to them in Abuja.

The Federal Government has arraigned a federal civil servant, Mr. Ibrahim Tumsah and his brother, Mr. Tijani Tumsah, before the Federal High Court in Abuja with failure to declare their assets to the Chief Okoi Obono-Obla-led Special Presidential Investigation Panel on the Recovery of Public Property.

Justice Muawiyah Idris of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Apo, Abuja had ordered the duo in December 2017 to forfeit 86 luxury vehicles, four houses and one quarry plant in Abuja which the panel impounded from them.

Ibrahim is the Director of Finance and Account in the Federal Ministry of Power, Works, and Housing and his brother, Tijani, is a member of the Presidential Committee on North East Initiative and a former Interim National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress.

The Federal Government had in its suit marked FHC/ABJ/CR/4/2018 and filed on January 18th 2018 brought the two brothers before the Court on two counts charge of failure to declare their assets “without reasonable excuse and upon the notice to declare” them before the panel.

The court’s forfeiture orders also affected four houses, two of which were located in Wuse II, one in Wuse Zone 7, and the other in Jabi, all in Abuja.

The two brothers pleaded not guilty to the two counts when read to them before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday.

The offences were said to be contrary to and punishable under section 3(3)(1)(a) of the Recovery of Public Property (Special Provision) Act 2004.

Their lawyers, Abdul Mohammed (for Ibrahim) and Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN) (for Tijani), applied for their clients’ bail, which the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN), did not oppose the bail.

The judge subsequently granted bail to the two defendants by adopting the bail conditions which included payment of a bail sum of N20 million agreed upon by the prosecution and the defence.